Gravitation The Novel by Maki Murakami and Jun Lennon
Review by Darlo
23.Jan.07
Having yet to see either a manga or anime version of Gravitation I came to this book totally afresh. Those of you who know me will know I'm not a huge fan of reading long books (with the obvious exceptions of course), with my last novel being 'Are You Dave Gorman'. However, once I started reading Gravitation The Novel, I found it hard to put down. And as the story progress and plots tightened I almost sacrificed a day at work just so I could finish the book.
Hyper-energetic Shuichi Shindo, singer and songwriter for the pop group Bad Luck, takes the lead in the story. He's been given a natural talent for entertainment which proves to be thrilling for those he works with and almost everyone who hears him and Bad Luck perform. Unfortunately for Shuichi, someone keeps trying to sabbotage him, but is it someone on the inside?
Whilst trying to do the best for the band, which although popular is not being taken very seriously as musicians, Shuichi is also struggling to come to terms with how his love life is shaping out. His boyfriend Yuki (yes he's gay) is a world famous romance novelist and is working very hard to meet a deadline, so he doesn't give Shuichi the time and attentention that Shuichi wants. However when Shuichi becomes too persistant and Yuki throws him out of the house so he can work, Shuichi begins to question whether or not Yuki feels the same way about him.
There's no getting around that Gravitation The Novel is a gay romance novel, but it's also a fantastic comedy. The 'interaction' between Shuichi and Yuki doesn't become too graphic, although I'm sure readers will end up using their imaginations a little bit. The relationships between other characters also intrigue and amuse readers with side stories that all correlate at the end, such as how Bad Luck's drummer, Hiro, has to deal with his interfering mother. For those like me who are new to the Gravitation series, at the start of the book there are character profiles with an image and a few notes on each character. But unless you constantly re-refer to these images, you'll imagine you're own characters and that was one of my favourite parts of reading this.
Gravitation The Novel was a great read for me. It had scenes of action, adventure, comedy, and a rock performance from one of the most 'different' places you could ever think of. It's a very strong story on it's own, but it has further intrigued me to check out the other works of the Gravitation series.